It seems like it's set to be a case of one out, one in at the Liberty - how does Chico's replacement stack up?
I won't be alone in not knowing too much about rumoured replacement for Chico, Federico Fernandez. With that in mind I thought I'd have a look at their stats from last season to see if anything can be drawn from it.
Firstly, here are their stats from whoscored.com for the entire season (league only).
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| Chico & Federico Fernandez's statistics for 2013/14 - League only |
The first thing you'd say is that there doesn't appear to be much between them. Defensive stats are a bit mad in that so much relies on how your team is performing (ie. a team who's bossing the league will have defenders with seemingly lower statistics for blocks and clearances etc), but the kind of differences we see between Chico & Federico's defensive stats give me the impression that, were the Argentinian to come in, we'd be getting a pretty tidy defender. 1.7 tackles and 2.2 interceptions to Chico's 2.5 & 3 seems worse, but as I say lots of work is currently being done in order to fully analyse a defender's performance with statistics, and I wouldn't be surprised if having smaller numbers in these categories ultimately ends up being a good thing.
In possession, he clearly keeps things a bit more traditional than our departed Spaniard. 0.1 dribbles per game means he (statistically speaking) only goes for a dribble once a game, while Chico goes for it once every other match. Unsurprising stat that. Chico's pass completion is around six percent better at 89.9%, but in terms of finding a man with an accurate long ball Fernandez pings one more per game with five compared to the Spaniard's 3.8. He also plays more key passes, and although it is again marginal these things do add up.
Back to defensive stats and Fernandez gives away less fouls, and is dribbled past marginally less often. Encouraging eh? Losing the ball through poor control and being dispossessed is another area they're identical, with 0.3 for both stats on either player's part. It seems Fernandez is a solid defender who, on paper at least, is a more than adequate replacement for Chico. The proof is in the pudding and all that, but everything we've heard and seen of him (given his exertions for Argentina at the World Cup) has looked positive.
I am excited about this one - and the reported transfer fee of around seven or eight million becomes interesting when you consider that his parent club, Napoli, have one of our players on a season long loan. A player who probably has an agreed fee of around that mark (if reports are to be believed), no less. The Swans have already shown this summer they're game for a swap deal - why not a belated one with Fernandez? Buy now, pay later? We could even do the same and take him on a season-loan with an option to buy, without the option of Napoli being able to recall him.
Either way, we need a centre-back and all the talk is this deal is happening. Hopefully we'll know more in the near future - until then!